Carlton Gets Baker D in the Basket

Baker Daniel Chirico opens up his second shop, which combines the old and new and the artistic and creative, focusing on the craft of bread making and the celebration of the artisan baker.

Photography: Peter Bennetts

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Photography: Peter Bennetts

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Photography: Peter Bennetts

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Published on 18 October 2011

by Hilary McNevin

In a rich mergence of the artisan, the architect, the graphic designer and the artist, Daniel Chirico has opened his second shop in Carlton. Opening on Saturday, you won’t find a coffee machine here, or a cafe attached to the bakery. “There are enough cafes in Carlton,” Chirico laughs.

Why Chirico has opened here is clear. “I like Carlton,” he says simply. “It harbours those ideas of the specialist. You’ve got Donati [butcher], Parissienne Pate [pate, cured meat and cheese] and there really isn’t a good fresh bakery in Carlton.”

While the focus is on a the retail side of the operation – there’s no wholesale from here as there is at his St Kilda shop – there will be the much loved Chirico pastries, croissant and nougat served in this bread boutique, which was designed by March Studio (who have also done several Aesop interiors).

“The original idea and the inspiration was a breadbasket,” says Chirico, who also enlisted Fabio Ongarato Design to create the identity with Misha Hollenbach from PAM. Fine, curved lengths of plywood flow over the ceiling and create fluid shelves behind the sturdy counter, which serves as a giant chopping block and workbench. The end result is a space where the concept of the old and the new combine to create a homage to both the craft of the baker to the future of the art.

Chirico’s singular focus on bread is a clearly conscious one. “I think it’s about time,” he says. “Every bakery for the last 10 years has been a bakery/cafe and I’d rather sacrifice that now. I think slowly, hopefully the shift for bakers will go back that way – celebrating the idea of being a baker or the craft is going to get lost.”